1842 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1842 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
involved some significant events, listed below.
Exploration
- AntarcticAntarcticThe Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
explorer James Clark RossJames Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
charts the eastern side of James Ross IslandJames Ross IslandJames Ross Island is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to , it is irregularly shaped and extends in a north-south direction. It was charted in October 1903 by the Swedish...
and on January 23 reaches a Farthest SouthFarthest SouthFarthest South was the term used to denote the most southerly latitudes reached by explorers before the conquest of the South Pole in 1911. Significant steps on the road to the pole were the discovery of lands south of Cape Horn in 1619, Captain James Cook's crossing of the Antarctic Circle in...
of 78°09'30"S.
Medicine
- March 30 - Crawford LongCrawford LongCrawford Williamson Long was an American surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled diethyl ether as an anesthetic...
performs the first surgical operation using anesthesiaAnesthesiaAnesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
(diethyl etherDiethyl etherDiethyl ether, also known as ethyl ether, simply ether, or ethoxyethane, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula . It is a colorless, highly volatile flammable liquid with a characteristic odor...
).
Paleontology
- Palaeontologist Richard OwenRichard OwenSir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
coins the name Dinosauria, hence the Anglicized dinosaurDinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
.
Physics
- Christian DopplerChristian DopplerChristian Andreas Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist.-Life and work:Christian Doppler was raised in Salzburg, Austria, the son of a stonemason. Doppler could not work in his father's business because of his generally weak physical condition...
proposes the Doppler effectDoppler effectThe Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
. - Julius Robert von MayerJulius Robert von MayerJulius Robert von Mayer was a German physician and physicist and one of the founders of thermodynamics...
proposes that workWork (thermodynamics)In thermodynamics, work performed by a system is the energy transferred to another system that is measured by the external generalized mechanical constraints on the system. As such, thermodynamic work is a generalization of the concept of mechanical work in mechanics. Thermodynamic work encompasses...
and heatHeatIn physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
are equivalent. This is also independently discovered by James Prescott JouleJames Prescott JouleJames Prescott Joule FRS was an English physicist and brewer, born in Salford, Lancashire. Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work . This led to the theory of conservation of energy, which led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The...
, who names it "mechanical equivalent of heatMechanical equivalent of heatIn the history of science, the mechanical equivalent of heat was a concept that had an important part in the development and acceptance of the conservation of energy and the establishment of the science of thermodynamics in the 19th century....
" (see 1843 in science1843 in scienceThe year 1843 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* February 5–April 19 - "Great March Comet" observed....
).
Technology
- February 21 - John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patentUnited States patent lawUnited States patent law was established "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;" as provided by the United States Constitution. Congress implemented these...
for the sewing machineSewing machineA sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...
. - June - James NasmythJames NasmythJames Hall Nasmyth was a Scottish engineer and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company manufacturers of machine tools...
patents the steam hammerSteam hammerA steam hammer is a power-driven hammer used to shape forgings. It consists of a hammer-like piston located within a cylinder. The hammer is raised by the pressure of steam injected into the lower part of a cylinder and falls down with a force by removing the steam. Usually, the hammer is made to...
and introduces an improved planing machinePlaner (metalworking)A planer is a type of metalworking machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is linear instead of helical...
.
Births
- February 2 - Yulian Vasilievich SokhotskiYulian Vasilievich SokhotskiJulian Karol Sochocki was a Polish mathematician....
(d. 19271927 in scienceThe year 1927 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* Publication of the 2nd edition of Principia Mathematica by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell, one of the most important and seminal works in mathematical logic and philosophy.-Physics:*...
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - February 22 - Camille FlammarionCamille FlammarionNicolas Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels, and several works about Spiritism and related topics. He also published the magazine...
(d. 19251925 in scienceThe year 1925 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* July 21 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T...
), astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
. - May 8 - Emil Christian HansenEmil Christian HansenEmil Christian Hansen was a Danish mycologist and fermentation physiologist.Born in Ribe, he financed his education by writing novels and he was awarded a gold medal in 1876 for an essay on fungi....
(d. 19091909 in scienceThe year 1909 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Summer - Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch first demonstrate the Haber process, the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and...
), fermentationFermentation (biochemistry)Fermentation is the process of extracting energy from the oxidation of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an endogenous electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound. In contrast, respiration is where electrons are donated to an exogenous electron acceptor, such as oxygen,...
physiologist. - August 23 - Osborne ReynoldsOsborne ReynoldsOsborne Reynolds FRS was a prominent innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser design.-Life:...
(d. 19121912 in scienceThe year 1912 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* July 23 - Horace Donisthorpe first discovers Anergates atratulus in the New Forest, England.-Chemistry:...
), physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. - September 9 - Elliott CouesElliott CouesElliott Coues was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist and author.Coues was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He graduated at Columbian University, Washington, D.C., in 1861, and at the Medical school of that institution in 1863...
(d. 18991899 in scienceThe year 1899 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert publishes Grundlagen der Geometrie, proposing a formal set, Hilbert's axioms, to replace Euclid's elements....
), ornithologist. - September 20
- James DewarJames DewarSir James Dewar FRS was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best-known today for his invention of the Dewar flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases...
(d. 19231923 in scienceThe year 1923 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Aeronautics:* Juan de la Cierva invents the autogyro, a rotary-winged aircraft with an unpowered rotor.-Astronomy:...
), chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. - Charles LapworthCharles LapworthCharles Lapworth was an English geologist.-Biography:He was born at Faringdon in Berkshire and educated as a teacher at the Culham Diocesan Training College near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. He moved to the Scottish border region, where he investigated the previously little-known fossil fauna of the area...
(d. 19201920 in scienceThe year 1920 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-History of science and technology:* Newcomen Society founded in the United Kingdom for the study of the history of engineering and technology.-Medicine:...
), geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
.
- James Dewar
- October 17 - Gustaf RetziusGustaf RetziusMagnus Gustaf Retzius was a Swedish physician and anatomist who dedicated a large part of his life to researching the histology of the sense organs and nervous system.-Biography:...
(d. 19191919 in scienceThe year 1919 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* June 1 - The term covalence in relation to chemical bonding models is first used by Irving Langmuir.-History of science:...
), anatomist. - October 24 (O.S. October 12) - Nikolai MenshutkinNikolai MenshutkinNikolai Aleksandrovich Menshutkin was a Russian chemist who discovered the process of converting a tertiary amine to a quaternary ammonium salt via the reaction with an alkyl halide, now known as the Menshutkin reaction.-Biography:...
(d. 19071907 in scienceThe year 1907 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Emil Fischer artificially synthesizes peptide amino acid chains and thereby shows that amino acids in proteins are connected by amino group-acid group bonds....
), chemist. - November 12 - John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (d. 19191919 in scienceThe year 1919 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* June 1 - The term covalence in relation to chemical bonding models is first used by Irving Langmuir.-History of science:...
), Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. - December 17 - Sophus LieSophus LieMarius Sophus Lie was a Norwegian mathematician. He largely created the theory of continuous symmetry, and applied it to the study of geometry and differential equations.- Biography :...
(d. 18991899 in scienceThe year 1899 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert publishes Grundlagen der Geometrie, proposing a formal set, Hilbert's axioms, to replace Euclid's elements....
), mathematician.
Deaths
- February 15 - Archibald MenziesArchibald MenziesArchibald Menzies was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist.- Life and career :Menzies was born at Easter Stix in the parish of Weem, in Perthshire. While working with his elder brother William at the Royal Botanic Gardens, he drew the attention of Dr John Hope, professor of botany at...
(b. 17541754 in scienceThe year 1754 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, postulates retardation of Earth's orbit.-Chemistry:* Joseph Black, Scottish chemist, discovers carbonic acid gas-Mathematics:...
), botanist. - April 28 - Charles BellCharles BellSir Charles Bell was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, neurologist and philosophical theologian.His three older brothers included John Bell , also a noted surgeon and writer; and the advocate George Joseph Bell .-Life:...
(b. 17741774 in scienceThe year 1774 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Chemistry:* August 1 - Joseph Priestley, working at Bowood House, Wiltshire, England, isolates oxygen in the form of a gas, which he calls "dephlogisticated air"....
), anatomist. - May 8 - Jules Dumont d'UrvilleJules Dumont d'UrvilleJules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer, naval officer and rear admiral, who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.-Childhood:Dumont was born at Condé-sur-Noireau...
(b. 17901790 in scienceThe year 1790 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Armagh Observatory founded by Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby, Archbishop of Armagh.-Biology:...
), explorer. - June 30 - Thomas Coke, Earl of LeicesterThomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (seventh creation)Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester , known as Coke of Norfolk, was a British politician and agricultural reformer. Born to Wenman Coke, Member of Parliament for Derby and his wife Elizabeth, Coke was educated at several schools, including Eton College, before undertaking a Grand Tour of...
(b. 17541754 in scienceThe year 1754 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, postulates retardation of Earth's orbit.-Chemistry:* Joseph Black, Scottish chemist, discovers carbonic acid gas-Mathematics:...
), agriculturalist and geneticistGeneticistA geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...
. - July 19 - Pierre Joseph PelletierPierre Joseph PelletierPierre-Joseph Pelletier was a French chemist who did notable research on vegetable alkaloids, and was the co-discoverer of quinine and strychnine.- Further reading :...
(b. 17881788 in scienceThe year 1788 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Biology:* Thomas Walter publishes Flora Caroliniana, the first Flora of North America to follow Linnaean taxonomy....
), chemistChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. - August 18 - Louis de FreycinetLouis de FreycinetLouis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet was a French navigator. He circumnavigated the earth, and was one of the first to produce a comprehensive map of the coastline of Australia.-Biography:...
(b. 17791779 in scienceThe year 1779 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* March 23 - Edward Pigott discovers the Black Eye Galaxy .* May 5 - The spiral galaxy M61 is discovered in the constellation Virgo by Barnabus Oriani.-Technology:...
), explored coastal regions of Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.